One-piece nipple,pacifier and the like

ABSTRACT

A one-piece nipple, pacifier and the like has a bag-shaped sucking portion, a disc-shaped part engaging the lips, a part located between the two and forming a base of the bag-shaped portion, and an outer part located upon the other side of the disc. The device is particularly characterized in that the base part has a lesser wall thickness than the other parts.

Unlted States Patent 1151 3,669,1 12 Mager et al. [451 June 13, 1972[54] ONE-PIECE NIPPLE, PACIFIER AND 699,757 5/1902 Howell I28/36O THE I1,518,823 12/1924 Schmidt et a1 ..l28/252 [72] Inventors: ElisabethMager, Cologne-Lindenthal; FOREIGN PA ENTS 0R APPLICATIONS gz gz g fg';z fi bmh 130,747 8/1919 Great Britain ..l28/359 y 618,250 2/1949Great Britain ..l28/360 [73] Assignee: Firma Carl Plaat, Koln, Germany641,314 8/1950 Great Britain ..l28/360 [22] Flled: 1970 PrimaryExaminer-Channing L. Pace [21] Appl No.: 11 AtlorneyRichards&Geier [30]Foreign Application Priority Data [57] ABSTRACT Jan 21 1969 German P 19O2 772 6 A one-piece nipple, pacifier and the like has a bag-shaped ysucking portion, a disc-shaped part engaging the lips, a part 52] U Cl128/252 128/76 128/360 located between the two and forming a base of thebag-shaped 51 111 1. Cl..::::::....:: .:Il&61j 11/00,A61r5/01 A 6lj17/00 and enter located the ther Side Of the [58] Field of Search..128/76 252 359 360 dise- The device is pettieuletly characterized inthat the base part has a lesser wall thickness than the other parts.[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2 Claims, 1 Drawing Figure615,095 11/1898 McTernen ..128 252 PATENTEUJUN 13 I972 3.669. 1 l2INVENTOPS E. M098, MSG/21.112 m4 RSchL/ZZ I GLCdmrlgx-j 41V ONE-PIECENIPPLE, PACIFIER AND THE LIKE This invention relates to a nipple,pacifier or similar article.

Existing nipples, pacifiers or the like are usually made of one piecefor the sake of cleanliness by means of a dipping process or a similarprocess, such as a dumping casting process. The nipple consists of asucking piece which is introduced into the mouth of a baby and throughwhich milk can be withdrawn, the sucking piece being followed by a piececontacting the lips. Between these two pieces there is a base parthaving a smaller circumference than the sucking piece, so that thesucking piece has sliding surfaces going over into the base part,whereby the gums of the baby slide automatically thereon when thesucking piece is introduced further into the mouth with the lipsstriking the lip-contacting piece. The sucking usually takes place inthat the gums squeeze the base part and thus during suction the returnflow of milk into the bottle is prevented. Then the tongue produces adischarge of the sucking piece through one or several suitable openingsprovided at its end.

Similar conditions prevail in pacifiers. However, the sucking part ofthe pacifier usually made of rubber, is connected with a disc-shapedpiece for the lips, which prevents swallowing, by a toggle which at thesame time is used to receive a ring or a holder. This connection has thedrawback that due to the effects of suction and particularly due toextensive moistening with saliva which then takes place, the variousparts can become separated and now there is the danger that the userwill swallow the smaller parts. A further drawback is that the toggleprojects into the sucking part and provides a hard resistance at thebiting location, which can affect the shaping of the gums in case oflengthy use.

An orthopedic device for gums is known wherein the sizes and locationsof the sliding surfaces, the biting surface and the lip engagingsurfaces are adapted to orthopedic requirements for gums. It has alsobeen suggested that the device should have different wall strengths atcertain locations, the purpose being to provide greater resistance tothe parts and the sliding surfaces and so that, for example, it will beeasier to compress thin rubber at the surface of the sucking partdirected toward the throat. However, a change of wall thickness withinan effective range can not be effected ina dipping process for one piecenipples and for that reason the existing orthopedic device for gums hasbeen made of several parts consisting of different materials ofdifferent degrees of hardness. It was always considered important thatthe base should be made harder than the sucking piece.

An object of the present invention is to improve prior artconstructions.

Other objects will become apparent in the course of the followingspecification.

The present invention is based on the consideration that in order toprovide a normal formation of the gums of a sucking it is of greatimportance to avoid form changes, particularly in a pacifier which isused by a baby for very long time periods. Such changes are lessdangerous in case of nipples which are used only a few times per day forshort sucking periods.

Consequently the present invention provides a one-piece nipple, pacifieror the like having a sucking part, a disc-shaped part engaging the lips,and a portion located between these two parts and constituting a basefor the sucking part, the base extending to the other side of thedisc-shaped part, whereby the wall thickness of the base is less thanthat of the other parts. Due to this construction the base which in useis located between the soft shapable gums of a baby, has a particularlygreat resiliency, so that changes in shape of the gums are avoided.

It is difficult to make a nipple of this construction by the usualdipping and dumping process, particularly since special devices arerequired. Therefore, the present invention provides that the nipple ofthis invention is to be made by spraying, pressing or transferprocesses, namely, in a closed mould subjected to pressure and includinga negative mould and a core.

In accordance with a further feature of the present invention the hollowspace formed by the core has a cross-section which diminishes from thefree end of the base extension to the front of the sucking portion tofacilitate the shaping.

Thus the front end of the pacifier is provided with a base extensionwhich takes over the function of the handle or the ring and which canhave any desired shape or wall thickness. it is advantageous, however,to provide a round transition portion upon the surface of the baseextension toward the lip-engaging disc. When this construction is usedthere is the possibility that the baby can place the base extension intothe mouth, but then due to the strongly curved closing surfaces thepacifier will slide practically automatically out of the lips. On theother hand the lip-engaging disc consists of a full piece of material.While it is yieldable, it is sufficiently rigid to be able to carry outits lip engaging function. In accordance with the present invention thebase extension located in front of the disc has the thinnest wall and isyieldable, while in the sucking portion the wall thickness is increaseddue to the diminution of the cross-section of the hollow space. Thus thesucking portion provides a good and pleasant workout for the tongueaction of the baby.

The invention will appear more clearly from the following detaileddescription when taken in connection with the accompanying drawing thesole FIGURE of which shows by way of example only, in side view apacifier constituting a preferred embodiment of the inventive idea.

The illustrated pacifier has an outer portion 1 having rounded surfaces2 extending into the lip-engaging portion 3. Further rounded surfaces 4connect the lip-engaging portion 3 with the base 5 which extends intothe sucking portion 6. Within the nippleis a hollow space 7 shown bybroken lines, the cross-section of which uniformly diminishes from theopen end of the outer portion 1 to the end of the sucking portion 6.

In the example illustrated, the outer portion 1 is provided with boreholes 8 which can be used for attaching a string, a ring or the like.

The pacifier shown in the drawing has a flat tongue-like shape. However,it can also have the shape of a rotation body. The outer portion canhave a different shape. If the device is used as a nipple the outerportion along with the disc 3 can serve as a joint for a bottle. Otherchanges can be made in the illustrated and described embodiment withinthe scope of the present invention. Specifically, the device can be madeof a large number of materials, such as elastomers, natural rubber,artificial rubber, silicon rubber or other plastic substances. Theshaping process can be replaced by a confectioning process, although thelatter is less advantageous.

We claim:

1. An integral infant nursing device comprising a lower portion, andupper portion and an outwardly projecting intermediate portion, saidlower portion and said upper portion being formed with a pair of spacedopposed substantially flat sides and said intermediate portion having asubstantially circular rim, said device being also provided with anopening therethrough extending from said lower portion to said upperportion, said opening being continuously tapered inwardly from saidlower portion to said upper portion.

2. An integral infant nursing device as described in claim 1 the lateraljunction between said intermediate portion and said upper and lowerportions being arcuate.

1. An integral infant nursing device comprising a lower portion, andupper portion and an outwardly projecting intermediate portion, saidlower portion and said upper portion being formed with a pair of spacedopposed substantially flat sides and said intermediate portion having asubstantially circular rim, said device being also provided with anopening therethrough extending from said lower portion to said upperportion, said opening being continuously tapered inwardly from saidlower portion to said upper portion.
 2. An integral infant nursingdevice as described in claim 1 the lateral junction between saidintermediate portion and said upper and lower portions being arcuate.